Thatbassguy's financially irresponsible build and record of where all of my money went

I'd say rinse and repeat, but we're getting rain. Just park it outside, and then get it dirty again while you wait for the insurance check.

 

It always gets parked outside.

 

I hate that. I’ve had 2 deer and a turkey hit the front of my tacoma.

 

Ouch!

This will be my first ever insurance claim, so I'm a little nervous about how that's going to work. I've had the same agent for 23 years, so I have faith that he'll be helpful, at least.

I also have a friend who works at an auto body shop, and is an excellent painter. He's going to try to get the ball rolling with his boss and have her contact me at some point, so I'm definitely getting plenty of help here.

I've had so many close calls since moving to where I live now. Plus, I travel at night a lot, and spend a lot of time in the woods, so I'm going to see if I can somehow get a full bumper out of this. If I had a full bumper already, I wouldn't even have any issues right now.

 

Your agent has nothing to do with the claims process.

This should be incredibly straight forward and boring - especially if none of the airbag wiring is damaged.

If you do get into dispute territory send me a message and I’ll help you out. I managed to get the ball rolling on my roof when my insurer dug its heels in, and my roofer (who specializes in the tougher cases) was impressed at what I sent over to the fine folks at the OCI.

My new roof looks great.

 

I just wanted to ask him some questions. I'm getting an estimate later today, then I'll call Progressive.

 

Hmm, didn’t that deer get whipped around to where the antlers ripped the rear valance off as well?

Hopefully your agent will do you right and make the claims process painless.

 

It’s been a while since I made a car claim, but when I did, my agent did everything. Maybe that’s changed? Either way, hopefully it’s straightforward!

 

Haha! I tried doing an online estimate through caliber, but after I sent in the pictures it said the damage was too extensive for them to do an estimate. I wondered if the fact that it's covered in mud and the rear valance is missing had anything to do with that.

I go through an agency, so I wanted to check in with my guy first. Also, I was trying to pick his brain about how I could go about getting a check from progressive rather than them paying the shop directly. But, he said it would be difficult to do so because of how progressive operates, and because there is a lien on the vehicle. It sounds like I will have to call progressive myself.

So, it looks unlikely that I will be getting a full bumper out of this. Although, I started looking at the 4Runner version of the bumper Pat just put on his 80, and the pricing is very good. Although, I believe you have to weld those together yourself. Still, could be a pretty good deal if I could make friends with somebody who really knows how to weld (Pearing? ).

 

Is it a coastal bumper? I’ve been going back and forth on getting a rear bumper kit and welding it up myself. I got the equipment…I can practice on yours lol. I think the welding wouldnt be that difficult, since essentially the fabrication part is mostly done. The only thing is that the coastal rear bumper actually uses the truck as a jig fixture, at least to initially get everything tacked together (which at my work pace, means down time for the vehicle).

As far as not being able to get a check directly…it’s probably for the best since you have underlying body damage. That’s definitely something for the pros.

 

Yup, Coastal. $841 with full hoops = cheap! Even if I threw somebody a little cash to do the welding, I'll paint it myself and still be way cheaper than most options. It looked like they did a pretty good job keeping the weight reasonable as well.

I wasn't wanting to take a check and try to fix it myself. What I was hoping was to get a check for the full amount of the repairs needed, and then have the fender and structural stuff fixed properly, but save the money for the bumper cover since I'll probably reuse my cracked one.. But, it sounds like I'm going to be dropping it off at Caliber at some point and it's going to live there until it's done.

Since I won't have it for a while, I'll probably pull off the bumper and winch and possibly the skids and touch all that stuff up while it's off. It'll be easier for them to work on without that steel bumper in the way anyway.

 

I’m going to laugh if I know your adjuster!

 

These days, it’s all very centralized and automated.

Your agent really exists to sell policies. Their ability to influence the claims process is extremely limited, although they can be a source of advice.

 

Caliber does good work, but they will definitely give you the most expensive estimate possible.

The independent guys are more likely to work with you to take the check and source the bumper you actually want.

 

Through progressive? I've never even talked to anyone from progressive. But I'll let you know who I end up dealing with.

I only have confidence in them because my buddy works there, and I know how picky he is.

But, I was going to take it to a smaller body shop in my area for an estimate tomorrow afternoon just to see and talk with them about the bumper situation. I'll probably end up with caliber, but I'm keeping my options open for right now.

 

Yeah, guy in my neighborhood works for Progressive as an adjuster.

Caliber is good to return things to how they are now - definitely will be no issues with them. Still, I do like the idea of using an independent and working towards the full bumper with them.

 

Last year there were 6,000 accidents from deer in a 3 month period.

 

I believe it. I've had close calls on a regular basis since moving to a rural area. I think a full bumper is actually the financially responsible solution.

 

Just in my state. Nation wide there were 1.5 million! 1 billion dollars in insured losses.

 

The damage that I had was minor. I didn’t need to file a claim on them. Mostly just the plastic clips broke. I was able to straighten and repair it myself.

 

That's what I was hoping for when I first looked at it. But, the more I looked, the more damage I can see hiding behind the grill and bumper cover. Going to have a local shop look at it this afternoon.

 

Was the deer ok?

 

It took off. I'm sure it was hurt. Might have run off and died somewhere else. Poor guy.

 

I finally filed a claim with Progressive. I called it a hit and run since the deer fled the scene.

 

Oh deer.

 

Well, apparently Progressive only thinks it's about $3K worth of damage. I thought for sure it would be higher.

 

I just don’t see Caliber coming back with that amount, but really all you care about is your deductible.

 

Agreed. It sounds like the lowball number is probably their way of keeping people from taking the cash and fixing it themselves. Once I get it to a shop and they do their own estimate, they'll work with progressive to adjust the payout.

 

Shops are able to file a supplemental request for funding. Insurance always lowballs so you don’t take the money and run. Just their way to keep things in check. They’ll get it fixed for you.

 

This is what I was thinking.

I got the ball rolling at Caliber Collision. I'm going through them because a friend paints at the location I'm taking it.